Only for hard-core enthusiasts

“Get up in the morning and go outside regardless of the weather.” That’s what Børge Ousland advised us. Our tents thrashed furiously in the wind when we awoke this morning. The forecasts predicted increasing wind speed through the day. And besides, it was Sunday. After 19 straight days without a break we were sorely tempted. If only we hadn’t been so far behind Roald A.

Discipline, routines, stamina and a dash of stubbornness are required to keep us moving through this icy desolation. At 6 a.m. a Type A person tumbles out to the tent’s vestibule and fires up the Primus stove. Two hours later we set off. Twelve hours later the Type B person cooks dinner, burrows feet first into his sleeping bag and turns off the light shortly after 10 p.m.

The wind picked up as the day passed. Not only that: visibility decreased to zero. At times it was like skiing in a bag of cotton wool. The wind tears at body and sled and the going gets tough and tougher. How did we manage to ski 32 km despite all that? The answer is simple and reveals a dubious bit of logic: Vegard’s headwind compensation. We allowed ourselves 5-10 minutes extra for each hour-long skiing stint because the conditions were so challenging. As simple as that.

The Norwegian whaling pioneer Lars Christensen sent out nine expeditions to Antarctica between 1926 and 1945. Four are known as the Norvegia expeditions. During these missions, scientific investigations were carried out and unknown territories were charted; this helped ensure that Norway now has sovereign territories in the southern hemisphere.

South Pole 1911–2011 is an informational outreach project run by the Norwegian Polar Institute
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